Excitement and expectations are high for the University of Southern Indiana
men’s basketball team as the squad begins another season as a top contender
for the GLVC and Midwest Region championships.

The Screaming Eagles completed their 16th straight winning season last
year, posting a 15-12 overall mark. Last year’s winning record also was the
22nd positive finish to a campaign in the last 24 years, but the team fell
short of advancing to the conference post-season.

The last 24 years have included 17 20-win seasons and 12 25-plus victory
campaigns for the Eagles. USI also has appeared in 10 of the 11 GLVC
tournaments since 1997-98 and 14 of the last 16 NCAA Division II tournaments
since 1992-93.

USI Head Coach Rick Herdes, who has led the Eagles to 27-or-more
wins in four of the last five years, will have the job of meshing eight
returning players and 11 newcomers in 2008-09. Herdes will have to replace
80 percent of the scoring and 62 percent of the rebounding from last year’s
team.

The squad will lean heavily on senior forward Anthony Pimble, the
team’s top returning scorer, and senior guard Kenny Love, who was
redshirted last year after a knee injury. Pimble dropped in 11.4 points per
game during his first season, while Love averaged 7.8 points per contest
during his first season with the Eagles in 2006-07.

USI also will look for major contributions from four other returning
players – junior forward/center George Cunningham, junior guard
Brent Owen, sophomore forward Nick Duncheon, and
redshirt-freshman guard Derrick Lee. Duncheon averaged 3.7 points and
1.2 rebounds per game during his first season, while Cunningham posted 3.1
points and 3.5 rebounds per contest.

Also returning after redshirting last year is junior forward Brandon
Carr. Carr transferred to USI after averaging 13.1 points and 8.0
rebounds per appearance at the Community College of Baltimore County at
Cantonsville in 2006-07.

To solve the depth problem at guard that plagued the Eagles last season,
USI and Herdes have added six new players in the back court. Junior
Marvin Gray and sophomore Kevin Gant transfer from junior college
ranks, while freshmen Jared Gray, Brandon Hogg, and Levi
Holscher begin collegiate career as Eagles.

Marvin Gray comes to USI after leading Indian River Community College to
a 22-9 record and a number five ranking in the Florida Junior College
Athletic Association in 2007-08. He led the team with a 14.7 points, 6.1
assists, and 3.1 steals per game, while also grabbing 4.2 rebounds per
contest.

The Freeport, Bahamas, native also earned first team All-FJCAA Southern
Conference honors for a second year in a row in 2007-08. He also was named
All-State and All-Division both seasons, while receiving the 2008 Pioneer
Pride Award (team most valuable player) at the end of this year.

Overall in two years at IRCC, Gray averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 assists, 3.1
steals, and 4.1 rebounds per game. He also scored a two-year high 32 points
against Broward Community College and dished out 12 assists against Santa Fe
Community College this past season.

Gant returns to his Indiana roots after one season at Lake Michigan
College in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He was selected for the Western MCCAA
All-Stars after averaging eight points, 7.9 assists, and three steals per
game. The 7.9 assists per game ranked sixth in the NJCAA, while the
All-Western Division player set the Lake Michigan single-game (17) and
single-season (229) records for assists.

Prior to attending Lake Michigan, Gant played for North Central High School
in Indianapolis. He was an alternate for the Hoosier Basketball Top 40 in
2006-07 and tied for 20th in Indiana for assists per game.

Jared Gray finished his prep basketball career at Castle High School
(Newburgh, Indiana) by averaging 16.5 points and five assists as a senior He
was named Hoosier Basketball Magazine All-State as a junior and senior and
earned All-Metro and All-SIAC honors in his final two seasons with the
Knights.

Hogg will start his collegiate career after a successful four seasons at
Edwardsville High School in Edwardsville, Illinois. A fourth team Illinois
Basketball Coaches Association All-State selection, Hogg averaged 14.0
points, 8.1 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game. His 8.1 assists per game led
the St. Louis area in that statistical category.

Holscher was named the Vincennes Sun-Commercial Player of the Year
and to the Evansville Courier & Press All-Southwestern Indiana team
after averaging 18.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last year for South
Knox High School. He finishes his career as the SKHS all-time leading scorer
(1,296 career points) and all-time leader in steals (192).

In the front court, the Eagles will replace honorable mention
All-American and first team All-GLVC Norman Plummer.

To ease the transition, USI has three talented transfers from the junior
college ranks in junior forwards Brandon Russ, Tyrone Bradshaw,
Jeron Lewis, and guard/forward Isaac Stoll.

Russ transfers to USI from St. Catherine College, where he was a first
team All-Region and first team All-Tennessee Junior and Community College
Athletic Association. The All-State and All-Division honoree averaged 16.1
points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Patriots, who were 22-6 overall. He
led the Western Division of the TJCCAA with an 11-5 record. Russ' 16.1
scoring average was 15th in the TJCCAA.

Bradshaw comes to USI from Southwestern Illinois College, where he
averaged nine points, three rebounds, and a team-high 2.5 blocks per game.
He also posted season-bests of 32 points against Lake Land College and seven
rebounds against Highland Community College.

Lewis averaged 9.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game at Northeastern
Junior College (Sterling, Colorado), while shooting 60.4 percent from the
field (122-202) in 2007-08. He started his collegiate career at Wabash
Valley College (Mt. Carmel, Illinois), averaging 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds
per contest.

Stoll makes the switch from Division I baseball at Southeast Missouri
State University to USI basketball. He has strong basketball roots,
developed on IHSAA class 3A state championship team at Washington High
School. Stoll averaged 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game during the
championship season.

USI starts the 2008-09 regular season campaign in search of history as it
plays in the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic for the third time in four
seasons. USI will be trying to win a tournament-record fourth championship
in five appearances at the preseason tournament, which runs November 7-9.

USI will play Saint Martin University, Minnesota State University,
and Bentley College in the three-day tournament.

Prior to playing in the Disney Classic, the Screaming Eagles will play an
exhibition game against the University of Evansville November 1. The Eagles
last played the Aces in 2006 and will be completing a
three-games-in-five-seasons contract that began in 2004.

The 2008-09 campaign also features 19 USI home contests, beginning
November 15 against Urbana University to start a six-game homestand. The
19-game home schedule includes nine GLVC contests.

The second annual Bill Joergens Memorial Tournament is November 28-29.
The Thanksgiving classic-style tournament features USI, Bellarmine
University, Florida Southern College, and King College.

Sandwiched between the opener with Urbana and the Bill Joergens Memorial
Tournament, the Eagles host Harris-Stowe State University on November 18;
the University of Saint Francis on November 22; and Missouri Baptist
University on November 24. USI finishes the non-conference schedule with
Temple Baptist College December 13; Maryville College December 20; Tiffin
University December 30; and Lake Erie College on January 26.

GLVC play begins on the road in 2008-09 when USI goes to Lewis University
on December 4. The Eagles will ring in the New Year by starting the
home-half of the GLVC Schedule against Saint Joseph’s College on January 2.

A highlight of the conference home schedule is the “Battle for the
Bridge” game between USI and Kentucky Wesleyan College on January 15. USI
has won the last four regular season battles in the rivalry, including last
season’s 79-77 victory in Owensboro, Kentucky.

The GLVC West Division will be different this year with the move of
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to Division I. USI will host Drury
University, which advanced to the NCAA II Great Lakes Regional last year,
for the Eagles’ homecoming game February 7.